Chapter 51: The Monster You Wanted

’What the hell was that?’

Memories flooded Zayn’s head from a time in his future that had happened in the past. Most of the memories were minor, but one significant scene, involving a person named Teivel and Zayn finding a book in a cave, stood out among them.

Zayn stared down at Axel’s dead body.

Then he noticed a faint glow emanating from the tattoo on his arm. One of the thorns faded from the vine as if it had never been there in the first place.

’So that was the answer...’

Above Zayn, the sound of the throne room door opening and closing echoed through the ruined chamber.

"Hello!"

A woman called out.

Zayn listened with bated breath as the woman’s footsteps drew closer to the hole above him.

Claire appeared at the edge of the caved-in floor, her voice trailing off when she saw the scene below:

"Good jo..."

Zayn didn’t say a word. He remained standing over Axel with a solemn look on his face as a quiet panic took hold of him. There was too much evidence of his crime. If she came any closer, it would be obvious Axel hadn’t died at the hands of the Goblin King.

’Please... please just leave.’

’Please stop coming over here.’

’Please... there’s too much evidence.’

’Turn away... please.’

Claire jumped through the opening and landed atop the massive pile of rubble in the middle of the room, then scrambled down its side and rushed toward Axel in a vain attempt to save him. But once she reached him, she immediately realized he was dead.

She collapsed to her knees in despair.

"How... How did this happen? Where are the others?!"

Zayn remained speechless and pointed to the lifeless bodies of Connor, his body half-consumed and crushed far beyond recognition, and Ryon, whose corpse lay mangled nearby.

She followed his gesture, recoiled, and immediately turned away, looking back at Zayn.

She spoke frantically, searching for a ray of hope, tears brimming in her eyes.

"At least tell me Maks is okay! Where is he?!"

Zayn pointed toward another pile of rubble, from which only Maks’s leg could be seen dangling.

’Please, Claire, just accept the situation and leave before you put two and two together. I beg of you.’

Tears brimmed in Claire’s eyes as she yelled:

"Zayn, how did this happen? You’re so strong, why couldn’t you save them?"

"..."

"Answer me, what happened?! Why are you silent?!"

Tears began to stream down her face, staining her pale cheeks. Her short hair was disheveled and oily. The hopeful, gleeful girl from three weeks ago had disappeared.

Zayn knew that look she wore now...

He’d seen it in the mirror years ago.

Zayn cast his gaze away in shame.

She continued to yell:

"Don’t look away! I need to know! At least tell me... tell me how Maks died."

Claire glanced back toward the rubble concealing Maks, only for her eyes to drift toward the fallen Goblin King.

’Please just leave... stop. Just don’t look.’

Her face stiffened as if she had just seen the devil.

"Zayn..."

Zayn followed her gaze and saw that she was looking at the Goblin King’s weapon — the cudgel that had fallen several meters from its corpse. Her gaze snapped back to Axel’s body. She lifted his shirt and studied the wound that had killed him, then looked at Zayn’s bloody sword lying on the ground beside his feet.

Most importantly, goblin blood was green, but the blood coating Zayn’s sword was red...

’Ha. Hahahahaha... Nice one, world.’

’You force me to kill an innocent man with my own hands, then just keep making the situation worse. Do you want me to kill her too?! If I let her go now, my crime will be exposed anyway, meaning their sacrifice will mean absolutely nothing! They will have died without reason!’

Fear crept into Claire’s eyes as she stared at Zayn.

"Z-zayn... How did Axel die from a stab wound...? I didn’t think you were one to let the Goblin King steal your sword."

Zayn had already come this far... There was no turning back now.

’Fine, world, I’ll be exactly what you want me to be. I can’t let myself be found out after all that I’ve done to hide my crime. I’m sorry, Claire, but you’re going to become another unfortunate sacrifice for the sake of saving the world.’

Zayn’s expression grew cold. He didn’t respond. Instead, he bent down, reaching for his sword.

"Stop joking!"

Before his fingers could close around the hilt, Claire kicked Zayn’s sword away, sending it skittering across the stone floor.

"Respond, Zayn! Please just tell me the Goblin King stole your sword. Tell me... lie to me if you have to!"

Zayn didn’t respond. He just stared at her, his face empty despite the redness surrounding his eyes from the tears he’d shed moments earlier.

Claire continued to scream:

"Please just say it! Say you didn’t kill Axel! Lie, I don’t care, just lie! If you can’t lie, there must be a reason, so just tell me! I will believe you!"

"..."

"What are you doing?! Speak! All you have to do is lie!"

Even if Zayn went along with her, it wouldn’t change the fact that she knew what sin he’d committed here. No matter how much Zayn wanted to play this charade, there was no telling when she would reveal his atrocities.

Even if he did tell her about his task — even if she believed him, what would he say about the others? That the Goblin King killed them?

After everything she had already seen, and with the state of their corpses, there was no way she would believe that.

Whatever trust she had possessed in Zayn was already far gone.

Zayn lunged toward Claire, trying to grab her arm. She shakily tried to unsheathe her dagger, but her hands were too unsteady, causing the weapon to slip from her grasp and clatter to the ground.

She pushed herself upward to flee, but her trembling knees failed to support her. Her foot shifted across loose rubble, and she toppled backward onto the floor.

Zayn began advancing toward her.

"What are you doing?! Get away..."

Claire scrambled backward on her hands and heels before forcing herself upright. Then she turned and sprinted toward the door.

With no time to waste, Zayn flooded all the Aether he could muster into his legs and exploded forward.

He caught her before she reached the door, slamming into her from behind and driving them both onto the floor.

Claire screamed and hammered weak punches against him:

"Let me go!"

Zayn rolled and straddled her, pinning her down.

Zayn could tell her Aether Core reserve was low. She tried to gather Aether in her fist, but the energy flickered and dispersed within seconds, while he still had over half of his core left.

Claire thrashed beneath him, but Zayn spread Aether throughout his body, reinforcing it. Her resistance gradually weakened. Realizing the difference in strength was insurmountable, her limbs went limp as she stared up at Zayn from the floor.

Tears formed in her eyes as she pleaded with Zayn.

"Zayn... why?"

Zayn raised his fist and brought it crashing down against the side of Claire’s head.

Claire quietly cried:

"At least tell me why..."

Claire stared at Zayn, her face now streaked with blood and tears.

Zayn raised his fist again. She closed her eyes and braced for impact, but he hesitated, his clenched fist suspended above her.

Zayn screamed:

"F-fight back, Claire! You’ll d-die if you don’t!"

Claire bit her lip then cried back:

"You’re not making any sense! You know I can’t beat you, no matter the situation! So why begin to speak now?! Do you want me to fight back to justify your violence?! All you had to do was lie! You still can, I will believe you! If you can’t lie, then at least give me a reason for all of this!"

’I’m sorry, Claire, this secret is too grand for you — I can’t trust someone with a good heart to nurture a secret this filthy. Even if you don’t say anything now, the second I kill again, your moral compass will cause you to reveal my deeds. I can’t let you go.’

Zayn punched her again, using only half the force he could muster.

Zayn pleaded with her:

"Fight back!"

Claire stared Zayn directly in the eyes.

"I refuse... You pathetic maniac."

Zayn raised his fist again and brought it crashing down like a meteor against her skull.

"Fight back, Claire!"

’Please, I beg of you! Don’t make me commit a merciless execution.’

Zayn raised his fist and struck her again, continuing to scream:

"Fight back! Fight back! Please, fight back!"

Claire didn’t respond. Blood began pooling in her mouth.

She was still alive but had given up on talking.

She spat out the blood and looked Zayn dead in the eyes.

Her tears had dried up, leaving her only with bloodshot eyes and a blood-stained expression of pity aimed straight at Zayn’s soul.

"Fight back!"

Zayn screamed and poured all of his rage into the next punch. As his fist descended, she closed her eyes.

Zayn stopped looking at her. He threw his head back toward the ceiling and began to scream, his anger directed at whatever beings had put them here and given him this impossible task.

"Agggggghhh! I hate this! Is this really what you wanted?! Am I everything you wanted me to be, you messed up world?!"

Zayn pushed himself off her and staggered toward the nearest weapon, Connor’s axe, which lay amid the rubble several paces away. He picked it up and trudged back to where Claire lay motionless.

Zayn began to laugh and cry simultaneously.

"Ha... Hahahahaha."

Zayn raised the axe and brought it down on her neck, severing her head from her body. The moment the blade struck, he twisted his face away, unable to watch the result.

[You have slain a Nascent Human, Claire Thompson]

Claire’s blood spread across the floor, seeping around Zayn’s bare feet.

"Errgh."

The sound of a man’s faint moan cut through the silence.

Zayn froze, then whipped around toward a pile of rubble.

’No way he’s alive... Did he just witness all of that?! Don’t tell me I have to claim another’s life with my own hands...’